Frozen Seafood
Scallop (Placopecten Magellanicus / Argopecten irradians)
Sea scallops, being the largest of the kind, are dredged year-round from Labrador to New Jersey. Since sea scallops die out of water they are always shucked at sea and kept on ice, if not frozen aboard. The meat counts range from 10 to 40 per pound. A small cousin of sea scallops, bay scallops average 70 to 100 meats per pound. They are dredged, raked or tongued from bays, harbors and salt ponds along the East Coast from Atlantic Canada to North Carolina and processed ashore. They are also farmed in Nova Scotia and New England in suspended systems. A less expensive, farmed bay scallop is imported from China.
Primary product forms: Whole round; Half shell; Meat
Green & Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis, Perna canalicula)
At one time held at low esteem, the blue mussel has become an aquaculture and success story. The cultivated mussels are harvested at a shell size of 2-3 inches. Its green counterpart is native to New Zealand. It is farmed mussels, cultivated on ropes, rafts or longlines.
Primary product forms: Whole round; Half shell; Meat; Marinated; Smoked
King Crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus)
The largest of the commercially harvested crabs, king crabs are characterized by spiny shells and long, spidery legs. King crabs have six walking legs, one large “killer” claw and one small “feeder” claw. Kings are found in shallow waters off the shores of Southeast Alaska and in the Bering Sea on flat, plain-like stretches of sea floor. King crabs often march in herds across vast expanses of these plains. They are caught in large, wire-mesh traps that measure 7x7x10 feet.
Primary product forms: Cooked sections; Cooked legs; Cooked claws
Clam (Venerupis Variegata, Meretrix Lyrata, Paphia Undulata)
Although there are more than 200 species of bivalve mollusks worldwide described as clams, only a half-dozen harvested on a significant scale as seafood. Once used widely as bait, clams are now found at high-end restaurants. They vary in size within and among species. Raw meat is gray and brown, but turns a creamy color when cooked.
Primary product forms: Whole round; Meat; Marinated; Smoked
Squid (Todarodes Pacificus / Loligo Chinensis)
Squid are cephalopods, a word meaning “head foot”. They are a close relative of the octopus and a distant relative of bivalve mollusks. More than 300 species inhabit the world’s oceans, but fewer than a dozen comprise 90 percent of the global catch.
Primary product forms: Whole round; Whole cleaned; Tubes & tentacles; Tubes; Rings; Strips; Breaded; Canned; Dried
Octopus (Octopus Spp)
Related to cuttlefish and squid, octopus are cephalopods or “head-footed”, referring to the eight “legs” that sprout from their head. They also have a parrot-like beak for crushing prey such as abalone, crab and lobster. Octopus is amazingly dexterous at hunting and fleeing. Most biologists consider them the smartest of all invertebrates.
Primary product forms: Whole round; Whole cleaned; Dried; Smoked
Vannamei Shrimp (Penaeus Vannamei)
Pacific white shrimp are among the most widely cultivated shrimp in the world. This is due mainly to ease of cultivation and rapid growth rate. Quality of pond-raised vannamei shrimp is normally high, owing to strict controls and the lack of at-sea time that accompanies shrimp harvested from wild.
Primary product forms:RHOSO (Raw Head-on Shell-on); RHLSO (Raw Headless Shell-on); RPUD (Raw Peeled Undeveined); RPD (Raw Peeled Deveined); RPDTO (Raw Peeled Deveined Tail-on); CHOSO (Cooked Head-on Shell-on); CPUD (Cooked Peeled Undeveined); CPD (Cooked Peeled Deveined); CPDTO (Cooked Peeled Deveined Tail-on)
Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus Monodon)
Striped like its jungle namesake, the black tiger shrimp is available year-round and is one of the Asia’s major aquaculture products. Most tiger shrimp is farmed, though a significant amount is harvested from the wild by trawlers working mud bottoms from very shallow water to depths beyond 300 feet. The species is distributed over a huge range, from east and southeast Africa through the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, around the Indian subcontinent and through the Malay Archipelago to northern Australia and the Philippines.
Primary product forms: RHOSO (Raw Head-on Shell-on); RHLSO (Raw Headless Shell-on)
Freshwater Shrimp (Macrobrachium Rosenbergii)
Also known as giant river prawn, freshwater shrimp is found wild from Pakistan and northwest India to Malaysia, New Guinea, the Philippines and northern Australia and is farmed in freshwater areas throughout the world. This fast-growing shrimp can reach a weight of 4 to 6 ounces.
Primary product forms: RHOSO (Raw Head-on Shell-on); RHLSO (Raw Headless Shell-on)
